Mark Carney sets 2016 launch for plastic £5 and £10 notes

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney promised “the next step in the evolution of banknote design” today as Threadneedle Street moved to introduce plastic £5 and £10 notes in 2016.

The more durable and secure notes — featuring Sir Winston Churchill on the fiver and Jane Austen on the tenner — will enter circulation after overwhelming backing from the public in a recent consultation. They will be printed at the Bank’s plant in Essex while the polymer will come from a new factory in Cumbria.

Carney said: “Ensuring trust and confidence in money is at the heart of what central banks do. Polymer notes are the next step in the evolution of banknote design to meet that objective.”

The announcement came as the pound soared nearly a cent against the dollar after unemployment fell sharply to 7.4 per cent, near the Bank of England’s 7 per cent threshold for considering potential interest rate rises. Minutes of the latest Monetary Policy Committee expressed worries over the rising pound, which is 9 per cent higher than its March trough, adding: “Any further substantial appreciation of sterling would pose additional risks to the balance of demand growth and to the recovery.”

Inflation is, however, expected to fall towards the 2 per cent target. IHS Global Insight’s Howard Archer said: “The overall impression is that the Bank remains in no hurry to raise rates.”